


Signs and Symbols

by Tanaqui



Series: Awesome!Jakeverse (Jericho) [50]
Category: Jericho (US 2006)
Genre: Awesome!Jakeverse, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-05-15
Updated: 2009-05-15
Packaged: 2017-10-02 09:24:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tanaqui/pseuds/Tanaqui
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Follows on from the events in my story <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/4815">The First Seventeen Hours</a>. As Heather drives Beck back to his camp, he has three requests to make.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Signs and Symbols

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Scribbler for the beta and SGAFan for weeding out any Britishisms.

The heat was still searing by the time Beck had finished having a few final words with Gray over at the school and was ready for Heather to drive him back to camp. The temperature didn't bother her on her own account; she'd gotten used to driving around without the refinement of air conditioning. What concerned her was that Charlotte might overheat, so she made Beck wait for a few moments while she checked the radiator and topped it up.

His expression when she dropped the hood back in place and climbed into the driver's side suggested he was even less impressed with Charlotte than on the trip out. But, as Heather carefully drove along Main Street—people were out and about again now they'd heard the curfew had been lifted—he settled himself amicably enough on the passenger side, nursing the M16 he'd left in the pickup during the meeting.

After they joined the road out of town, he cleared his throat. "I have a proposal for you. A kind of re-proposal, in fact." He gave Heather one of his serious smiles when she glanced across at him. "I talked to Gray and Eric, and they'd be happy for you to continue acting as my liaison, if you're willing." He hesitated. "I'd appreciate it too."

Heather raised her eyebrows in surprise while she concentrated on shifting into third. "After I stole from your office? Had Jericho's Most Wanted sending me secret faxes in code? How can you be sure I'll be working for you?"

"You won't. You'll be working _with_ me." Stealing another look at him, Heather saw the corner of his mouth was turned up in a wry grin. "As you keep reminding me, I'm not in charge any more."

"So what do you need me to do?" Heather tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Not sure I'm really the right person to relay stuff about patrols and troops...."

"That's not what I'm looking for. Anything regarding the town defenses and the Rangers, I'll talk directly to Eric." Charlotte lurched over a pothole and he grabbed the door to steady himself. "But there'll be other things my men and I will need. I'd like there to be someone I can trust who can ask the town on my behalf for that kind of thing—or tell me when I shouldn't ask. Who can tell me what the town needs from me, and help them understand what I will and won't do. And who can tell me who to go to, and who to stay away from."

Heather nodded. Yes, he'd need someone who could do all that for him. She just wasn't sure she wanted it to be her. She'd had enough of being pig-in-the-middle for the last six months, what with the way they'd begun to look at her in New Bern when the rumours about Jericho first started circulating, and then the way they'd looked at her once she'd made her way back to Jericho and started working for Beck.

"Does it have to be me?" She wondered if she sounded like one of her third-graders trying to get out of their turn to collect the books.

"I'd like it to be." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him shrug. "I thought we worked well together. And...," he shifted in his seat, "you asked how I can trust you? If there's one thing I've learned from working with you these past months, it's that, whatever you do, it'll be the right thing, for the right reasons. You won't take Jericho's side, or my side, blindly."

Heather blushed. She thought he was vastly over-estimating her, but it was nice to know he thought that after all that had happened. Especially after all that had happened. And if _she_ didn't do it, who would? She bit her lip, realizing she'd been setting herself up for this ever since she'd insisted on inviting him to the meeting.

"I know it's a lot to ask...." His voice trailed off, sounding more uncertain than she'd ever heard him.

"I'll do it." She smiled over at him as she slowed the car and flicked on the indicator for the turn to the Richmond farm and his camp. "And," she dipped her head awkwardly, "I appreciate what you just said about me, major. That means a lot."

"Edward." When she shot him a puzzled look, he gave her a shy smile. "Please. Call me Edward. Since," he gestured vaguely with his hand and again sounded amused, "you're working with me, not for me...."

"Edward." She nodded. It sounded strange to her ears, but she supposed she'd get used to it soon enough.

"So... if I could make my first request...?"

"Already?" She softened the exclamation with a grin as she looked across at him.

He crinkled his eyes at her. "I was wondering if you could get me a flag. A real American flag." He pressed his lips together into a thin line for a moment. "Cheyenne took away all our Stars and Stripes and gave us that... monstrosity. It would mean a lot to us if we could fly a real flag over our camp. I thought maybe someone in Jericho might've stashed one away somewhere when all the flags in town got changed."

Heather nodded distractedly, doing her best to hold the car steady while it bucked over the ruts in the dirt track. "I'll ask around. I'm sure I can find you one somewhere." Her hands tightened on the wheel. "And if I can't, I'll sew you one myself."

He snorted. "So, if you're Betsy Ross, does that make me George Washington?"

Heather couldn't help giggling. "I guess so." She sobered. "I just hope our independence doesn't cost as many lives."

She topped a rise and the gates of the camp came into view. They rattled along the last couple hundred yards of dirt in silence, but she was running over the conversation in her head once again, still reviewing it even as she pulled the car over to let him out.

It was only once he'd climbed out and slammed the door and begun to turn away that she made up her mind.

"Edward?"

He turned back, resting his hands on the open window.

"You said you trust me because I do the right thing. But there's one thing I got wrong." She swallowed. "You're not a coward. I'm sorry I said that."

He was silent for a moment, but his dark eyes held hers. "I'm not," he said at last. "If you hadn't...." He shook his head. "I'd still be doing Cheyenne's dirty work. Although," his smile was a little sad this time, "it's good to hear that maybe I'm not completely irredeemable." He saluted her briefly, before turning away to the gate.

Driving back to Jericho, Heather found herself grinning at his words. No, not completely irredeemable. In fact, she had a sneaking suspicion Major Edward Beck would more than make up for his past misdeeds.


End file.
